A donation from the Hamilton Rotary Club will help boost pupil literacy.

Nikita Euler, literacy co-ordinator at CedarBridge Academy, said that a donation from the club would allow dozens of pupils at the school to benefit from high-tech educational software.

Ms Euler told Rotarians that the computer-based Achieve3000 instructional tool provided text passages matched to a pupil's individual reading level.

She said classrooms without individually tailored instruction was like trying to wear a wrong- sized shoe.

Ms Euler explained: “No matter how much tissue you think you could simply use to take up some of the room in the front of the shoe, it will not fit your foot.

“It is certainly true that one size does not fit all.”

She said the software tested a pupil to determine their reading level and gives them passages matched to their standard.

Ms Euler added: “In the class setting, teachers may focus a lesson on a topic for all students while students are reading at their own level.”

She said that she was contacted by Cathy Bassett, education director of the Rotary Club, in June about helping improve literacy at the high school.

Ms Euler said the Achieve3000 programme was introduced on a trial basis to a group of pupils at the school in February and that she had seen an improvement since.

She added: “I could see that as we went along we were definitely making progress.”

Ms Euler said that the donation would allow 50 more pupils to start using the programme this term. She added: “This allows students to have a bit more preparation, guidance and insight so they will be able to meet long-term career goals.”

Ms Euler said that she hoped to have all the school's first-year students using the programme “in the very near future”.